betta lethargic and breathing heavy. please help!!!

[pipercallie]

hi guys, i got a new betta three days ago and he was completely fine until this morning. he seemed lethargic and out of it but i figured he was stressed so i wasn’t too worried. but now he’s still super slow and floating at the surface behind the filter. he’s breathing and every once in a while starts breathing really heavy. i’m super worried about him and don’t know what to do. his water temp is 80, ph 8 (but working on lowering with API ph down), ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0. he has two snails and some java plants. he has a bubbler keeping his tank oxygenated and he has places to hide. he’s just floating behind the filter and has been for multiple hours and i’m really worried. is it possible it’s just stress or could something else be wrong? i did a 20% water change this morning and i really hope i didn’t mess something up there but i tested the water after and it was good. i always add API stress zyme+ after water changes to. lmk if u should be worried or if there’s anything i can do. i really don’t want to lose him

 

[NannaLou]

I’m sorry your having this issue, it seems all your water parameters are good, my first thought was an uncycled tank.

How ’hard’ is your water..? Is that very different from where you bought him..?

 

[Circus]

The few times (when I first started keeping fish) I used Ph Up or Down, it killed off a few fish. I am not a big fan of chemicals that alter ph or water hardness, as it tends to stress the fish out a lot if not used very carefully.

Bettas can also be stressed by high water flow, especially if they have very long fins.

Do you have a lot of plants and hiding places? How long has your tank been set up?

 

[itiwhetu]

Photo of your tank please. I think your pH is to high for this fish.